


Heartbreaker

by starrystarrytrouble



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Boss/Employee Relationship, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Doctors & Physicians, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Forbidden Love, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Love Triangles, Museums, Nudity, Party, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrystarrytrouble/pseuds/starrystarrytrouble
Summary: Ethans on a date...but not with MC.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 14





	Heartbreaker

Luscious honey blonde waves over caramel skin, devilish lashes and a one shoulder dress that danced over her body. She was unfairly divine.

And right now, Eve Valentine watched this beautiful stranger stand at the bar, drape her sparkling braceleted arm over Ethan’s shoulder and whisper into his ear. The worst part was, he was leaning close and laughing along with her.

“I can’t believe Dr Banerjee invited you to the museum re-opening as his guest and you brought me. Look at this place.” Sienna slipped her arm through Eve’s and stared up at the marble hall in awe.

Eve glanced away from the bar.

“Banerji’s on the Museum board. He wants us to mingle. There are lots of philathropists and benefactors here and if we can get interest for Edenbrook then we can help.”

“Got it. We’re young and hot and we need to bag rich old people. Let’s do it!” Sienna beamed before turning towards the bar and freezing, “What the HELL.”

The woman tossed her head back laughing at something Ethan said, her voice musical and contagious.

“We should go that way.” Sienna tried to shuffle Eve in the opposite direction, making her smile.

“Si, I’ve already seen them.”

“Who is she?!”

“No idea. But she’s gorgeous.”

She looked back to them, the woman’s perfect smile glittered as she laughed yet again, holding onto Ethan’s lapel for balance. He looked bemused at whatever she’d said, a genuine warm smile lit up his face and he looked far more relaxed than when she’d last seen him at the hospital earlier.

Sienna snuck another long look at Dr Ramsey and his date and turned back to Eve concerned. **There is no happy ending to this** kind of drama, she thought.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Me? Yeah, I think I am.” Eve glanced over to them one last time, “C’mon let’s go find some rich people.”

#

“The pretty brunette in the pale gold dress. You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

Until now, Ethan had avoided looking at Eve all night. In silk slashed to her thigh and her hair tumbling over her back, she was utterly dazzling.

His companion smiled at his expression. “Relax, I knew the moment I saw her.”

“What makes you say that?”

She tutted slowly. “C’mon Ramsey, we spent all summer together in Brazil. I know your type. Smart, or you’re not interested. Challenges you. Probably talks back to you when you deserve it. Which you do all the time. She’s beautiful. Sociable.”

Ethan watched the resident look warmly at the aging museum curator who Naveen was introducing her to.

As if by fate or chance or sheer evil, Eve tilted her head at the same time. Her eyes locked on his for the first time all evening, both staring across the room, neither willing to look away. He held onto his glass tighter.

“And she’s completely in love with you.”

His companion’s voice stirred him but he still didn’t break Eve’s gaze.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“So you’re saying that’s not her?” she turned around and looked over. The small girl next to Eve glared back at her.

Ethan shook his head. “Why makes you think it is?”

His companion smiled with triumph, “You see her friend? The cute one. She’s spent the whole night staring at me. Trying to figure out who I am and probably what the hell I’m doing with you. Same with most people here. We’re attracting a lot of attention so I’m guessing you don’t get out much.

“But _her,_ she hasn’t looked at me once. She’s only been staring at you.”

Ethan didn’t say anything, still transfixed on the figure in the distance.

“Put her out of her misery.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ethan, you don’t give a damn what anyone here thinks. Go talk to her.”

Eve glanced away from Naveen, caught his eye again and gave him a faint smile. He broke away and sighed.

“She’s a colleague. That’s all.”

He winced at his own words and stared into his glass, his knuckles tinged lightly with white from the force with which he held it. He glanced out into the sweeping hall, lost in a mass of thoughts, his brow creased with concern and, for just a second, a shadow of something else that looked remarkably like _peace_.

And just like that, it was gone. He shook his head with finality and drained the rest of his tumbler.

In the distance, his companion watched the pretty brunette throw a last curious look over at him, a mystery playing out on her face, before she disappeared into the crowd.

#

Eve stepped into the palatial restroom and instantly regretted it. In front of her was the woman she’d been trying not to notice all evening.

She looked even more stunning up close. Her curls were flamboyant and she was supermodel tall, far closer in height to Ethan than she herself was, Eve noticed with a pang. The woman fixed her lipstick with perfection in the mirror, carefully dabbing the red stick to her gorgeous mouth.

Eve was about to slip into a cubicle when the woman looked up at her and smiled mischievously.

“Dr Valentine, right?”

She nodded dumbly, “Hi.”

Extending out her left hand, the woman held it out a few moments too long ensuring Eve saw the large diamond.

“I’m here with Ethan. He’s talked about you.”

“Right, I’m on his team so…”

“That’s not what I meant.”

That dazzling smile was back. And a twinkle of something teasing.

She packed up her makeup into her impossibly tiny purse and stalked towards the door, stopping to place a hand on Eve’s shoulder, her voice gentle in her ear.

“You’re a worse liar than he is.”

#

She entered the bedroom in nothing but black lace, her silhouette illuminated by starlight. No matter how many times she appeared here, the vision of her in _his_ apartment was enough to make him mindless.

Leaning on the doorframe, champagne bottle in one hand, she sipped from the glass she held in the other.

“You know, when you said we’d have our own _private_ party afterwards I didn’t expect it to be quite so wild,” she bit her lip innocently.

“You didn’t give the impression of wanting things to be tame when you were screaming ‘more’ 10 minutes ago,” he replied dryly.

Spread naked, hands behind his head, tangled languidly in the sheets, he still refused to relinquish his sarcasm.

Holding his stare, Eve brought the bottle to her lips, took a long sip and smirked.

“So where’s your friend now?”

She sat down next to him on the edge of the bed and handed him a glass.

“I imagine back at the hotel with her husband,” he replied.

“Will you see them again before they fly back to the Amazon?”

“Tomorrow, I expect. He works hard running the hospital there so they like to maximise their downtime.”

“I can say from _personal_ experience that a date with the famous Dr Ramsey is a pretty good use of downtime.”

Her words reminded him of their circumstance. Everything they did, everything they were had to be a secret, for her sake. It would be easier for her to pick someone else. Another resident, a banker, a lawyer, hell, even another attending. Anyone but him.

Desperate to forget this, he captured her lips in his own, parting her mouth and drawing her in deeper. She tasted like champagne and jasmine and chaos.

“Feel free to spend all of your downtime here then,” he said as they moved apart.

She raised her eyebrow at him. He watched surprise flood over her, then curiosity, followed by uncertainty.

“I mean it.” He kissed her again, moving down her neck in an affirming rush.

She moaned against him when he slipped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him.

“Especially right _here_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Tumblr: @starrystarrytrouble


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